Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a hybrid connector having electric plug-in connections and fiber-optic demountable connections for an electronic built-in unit. In particular, the invention relates to a vehicle radio which can include other multimedia. The hybrid connector has a male connector strip, with a plug-in collar, and a female connector which can be plugged into the plug-in collar of the male connector strip. The female connector includes a cover cap with module chambers for holding electronic receptacle modules and fiber-optic modules. The male connector strip has contact pins, held in a base of the male connector strip, which are assigned, with their ends on the plug-in collar side, to receptacles of the receptacle modules. Optoelectric transducers, likewise are held in the base of the male connector strip, and are assigned to the optical fiber connections of the fiber-optic modules, and in which the ends, guided outward from the male connector strip, of the contact pins and of the electric connecting leads of the optoelectric transducers are solder terminals of the male connector strip. Modular hybrid connectors of this type are known from German Patent DE 195 33 295 C1. The modular configuration allows the connector to be adapted to different equipment-specific requirements of extendable electronic built-in units by appropriately fitting them with receptacle modules and fiber-optic modules. Of particular importance in this case are automobile radios which are optionally combined with a mobile satellite television set and/or with a mobile navigation unit to form an electronic built-in unit. In addition to the usual electric plug-in connections, the large amount of information arriving in this case also requires fiber-optic demountable connections. In such units the connector fiber-optic signal currents must be converted by electrooptical transducers into electric signal currents and vice versa. With the known hybrid connector according to German Patent DE 195 33 295 C1, the electrooptical transducers are accommodated in mating fiber-optic modules which, for their part, are in turn inserted into shaft-like recesses in the base of the male connector strip. Apart from the fact that the configuration is relatively complicated in terms of production engineering, it results, given a prescribed number of fiber-optic terminals, in relatively large dimensions for such a connector. The electrooptical transducers formed of transmitting and receiving diodes additionally require relatively long connecting leads to the solder terminals assigned to them on the printed circuit board of the electronic built-in unit. With regard to the high signal frequencies to be transmitted via the connecting leads, the length of the latter must be at most 20 mm if the aim is to avoid undesired transfers and signal distortions. The observance of this maximum length is made difficult, in particular, by the fact that the male connector strip of the connector usually cannot be seated on the printed circuit board of the electronic built-in unit for and fasted thereto. In general, the plug-on collar is aligned perpendicular to the plane of the printed circuit board because a lateral plug-in connection is generally prescribed for such electronic built-in units. In order to arrive at solutions which are acceptable for radio frequencies, it is then necessary to use an intermediate printed circuit board. The intermediate printed circuit board is attached to the male connector strip and in the case of which those electronic connecting components on the printed circuit board of the electronic built-in unit which are to be connected directly to the terminals of the electrooptical transducers, must be relocated to the intermediate printed circuit board.